Lesson 1

1. Vocabulary
   

   
    

   1. The expression "ahead of time" means before the
      specified hour.
      
      1. It is better to arrive at the office ahead of time than to be late.
         
      2. They told us to be at the airport ahead of time.
         

• When you say "ahead of the times", you mean: muy adelantado a la época o los tiempos contemporáneos.
  

  
   

1. The expression "ten-year-old" or its plural "ten-year-olds" can be used as a noun
   
   1. A ten-year-old should be in fifth grade.
      
   2. Tell all the ten-year-olds
      to wait in room five.
      

• The same expression can be used as an adjective.
  

1. All the ten-year-old children have taken their test.
   
2. Ten-year-old boys formed the base-ball team.
   

You may say:

• (the) one-year-old(s)        (los) niño(s) de un año.
  
• (the) two-year-old(s)        (los) niño(s) de dos años.
  
• (the) three-year-old(s)        (los) niño(s) de tres años.
  

This expression is not generally used to identify the age of persons over eighteen.

1. Nouns
   

   
    

   1. A noun is the name of a persona, place, or thing.
      
      1. A person    Michael Phelps
         
      2. A place        Los Angeles
         
      3. A thing        a table
         

         
          

   2. A noun can be common or proper.
      

      
       

   3. A common noun is the generic name of a person, place, or thing.
      
      1. A RIVER            WHAT river?        ANY river.
         
      2. A CITY            WHAT city?        ANY city.
         
      3. A ROSE            WHAT rose?        ANY rose.
         

         
          

   4. A proper noun is the name of a particular, or specific, person, place or thing.
      
      1. A RIVER            WHAT river?        The Colorado River.
         
      2. A CITY            WHAT city?        Mexico City
         
      3. A ROSE            WHAT rose?        An American Beauty Rose
         
      4. A GIRL            WHAT girl?        Mary
         

         
          

   5. Proper nouns must always be capitalized.
      

      
       

Common Nouns	Proper Nouns
a river	The Ohio River
a city	Mexico City
a lake	Lake Michigan
a doctor	Doctor Jones
an island	The Canary Islands
an office	The Office of International Revenue
A day	Thursday
A month	January
A country	Mexico
A citizen	An American Citizen

 

1. TODO, TODA, TODAS, TODOS
   

   
    

   1. There is no simple or single English equivalent for these words. When they are used as adjectives, that is before a noun, they are translated as:
      

ALL

1. ALL, as an adjective is never followed by the indefinite articles AN, A. If you wish to use:
   
   1. 
      Toda una
      
   2. Todo un
      

      Use:
      

   3. A whole
      
   4. An entire
      
   5. A complete
      

      
       

2. The word EVERY
   

   
    

   The word EVERY means: cada uno, cada una, (todos),
   

   The word EVERY is used before a
   singular noun or pronoun but its meaning is COLLECTIVE.
   

   When we say: EVERY DAY we mean ALL DAYS, but we think of the days NOT collectively, but INDIVIDUALLY
   

   
    

   1. EVERY as an adjective:
      

EVERY DAY	Todos los días	EVERY BOY	Todos los muchachos
EVERY MORNING	Todas las mañanas	EVERY GIRL	Todas las muchachas
EVERY YEAR	Todos los años	EVERY HOUSE	Todas las casas
EVERY MONDAY	Todos los lunes	EVERY STUDENT	Todos los alumnus
EVERY SUNDAY	Todos los domingos	EVERY TIME	Todas las veces, siempre

 

1. The words EVERYBODY, EVERYONE, EVERYTHING are pronouns.
   
   1. EVERYBODY    todos, todas, todo el mundo
      
   2. EVERYONE    todos, todas, todo el mundo
      
   3. EVERYTHING    todo (en el sentido de todas las cosas)